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Power Station Expands Fleet of Electric Vans

Posted on: Friday, 17 February 2006, 06:00 CST

The Sellafield nuclear power plant is expanding its fleet of service vehicles made by County Durham's Smith Electric Vehicles.

The British Nuclear Group already has six Smith vehicles on site at the Cumbrian plant operating in a range of roles.

It has now added to the fleet with another van from Stanley- based Smith, taking its investment in the County Durham company's technology past the pounds 100,000 mark.

Kevin Harkin, business development manager for Smith, which is part of the Tanfield Group, said: "Sellafield is a unique site, with very stringent standards for vehicle safety, reliability and environmental awareness. We work hard to meet and exceed those standards.

"Manufacturing and industrial facilities are increasingly recognising that using zero emission vehicles offers greatly improved process efficiencies, because they can operate both inside and outside buildings."

The latest addition at Sellafield, a box-bodied ST100 vehicle, will pick up compactible waste and safely carry it out of the station at Whitehaven. It carries up to 2,000kg and can travel 25 miles between battery charges.

In order to meet the client's requirements, the entire surface of the vehicle was sand blasted to ensure there was no surface contamination and given an extra-thick coat of paint to ensure it withstands the working environment.

John Cooke, technical manager at British Nuclear Group, Sellafield, said: "We are very pleased with the ST100. It's certainly working well and meeting our expectations. The use of such vehicles goes a long way to meeting our alternative energy measures."

Source: The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne

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